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Cromwell double homicide was top story in 2011 [The Pine Journal, Cloquet, Minn.]
(Pine Journal (Cloquet, MN) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Dec. 31--Local headlines in 2011 ran the gamut from the sensational to the sublime, with Carlton County making regional and even statewide news throughout the year. The top story of the year was undeniably the double homicide of a Cromwell couple in their rural home -- a story that remains ongoing as the accused perpetrators face trial this spring.
Here is a review of some of the many Carlton County stories making the news over the past year.
January:
Carlton County emergency dispatchers received a report of a man found dead in a residence on Krogh Road in Red Clover Township, about two miles northeast of Cromwell. When sheriff's deputies arrived, they found an adult man and woman dead inside the home, later identified as Tom Holm and Kim Schmitz. Investigators discovered that a pickup truck belonging to Holm had been missing from his residence at the time deputies responded to the deaths. The pickup truck was recovered by the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office on Jan. 8 at approximately 10:25 p.m., when it was reported on fire in the roadway near the 7700 block of Albert Road in the Saginaw area. The Carlton County Sheriff's Department offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons involved in the double homicide.
Later in the month, the Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office determined the cause of death to be a gunshot wound for both Holm and Schmitz. A T-shirt was found in the burned-out chassis of Holm's red Chevrolet pickup truck, believed to be associated with the suspect or suspects.
February:
Cloquet City Council members voted to approve a conditional use permit for an industrial landfill within city limits -- on a site currently home to several gravel pits and an inactive landfill, but which lies just over 1,000 yards from the Hilltop soccer fields and the neighborhoods that lie beyond those fields. The 5-2 vote reversed two previous votes by the city council and came after eight months of fierce debate within the community.
Six weeks after Kim Brown Schmitz and Thomas Harold Holm were found murdered in their rural Cromwell home, authorities were still without any significant information that would lead to an arrest in the case. Carlton County Sheriff Kelly Lake stated that leads continued to trickle in, but at a slower pace.
March:
Rachel Charlotte Defoe, 25, and Joshua David Martineau, 28, were arrested in Hennepin County as the result of investigation based on a tip from the public in connection with the dual homicides in Cromwell. Martineau and Defoe were arrested by members of the U.S. Marshall Service, Minneapolis Fugitive Task Force and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Carlton County Sheriff Kelly Lake said authorities had reason to believe the two were hiding out in that area to avoid arrest. The suspects were released into the custody of the Carlton County Sheriff's Department and were transported to the Carlton County Jail. Lake confirmed that Martineau and Defoe were familiar with the victims and she added the four had reportedly known each other for the past three to four years.
Carlton County Attorney Thom Pertler filed notice that a grand jury would be convened to consider first-degree murder charges against Defoe and Martineau.
The grand jury subsequently indicted the two on four counts each of first-degree murder for their alleged involvement in the slayings of Kim Schmitz and her boyfriend, Thomas Holm, in the victims' Cromwell home in January.
The Cloquet-area Minnesota Army National Guard Unit announced it would send some 130 of its soldiers to Kuwait and Iraq for a year-long deployment in the spring -- part of the second largest deployment of Minnesota soldiers since World War II.
After 36 years of fighting fires in the Cloquet area, Fire Chief Jim Langenbrunner announced he was hanging up his fire-resistant coveralls and fireman's boots for a Kindle and a good pair of hiking shoes in retirement. Selected as incoming chief was Kevin Schroeder, a veteran of 26 years with the department.
Cloquet School Board members unanimously voted to implement a free, all-day kindergarten program at both Washington and Churchill elementary schools.
The cast and crew of "Wiley and the Hairy Man" from County Seat Theater won Best of Festival honors at a statewide community theater competition with their magical romp through the swamps of the American South. In addition to taking the top prize (which they shared with one other theater), the crew of County Seat Theater veterans also took awards for outstanding achievement in directing, scenic design, costume and makeup designing, sound design, lighting design, mime coaching and ensemble performance.
April:
In an effort to curb a mounting budget deficit, Cloquet School Board members unanimously approved more than half a million dollars in budget cuts. A few items on the chopping block included student programs, textbook upgrade funds and teaching positions. More than 20 budget cuts equaling around $546,000 in savings were pared from next year's budget, including the cheerleading team, dance team and orchestra program for students. Board members also approved shutting down the middle school swimming pool for half of the year to save on operational costs and eliminating eight full- and part-time teaching positions at the end of the 2010-2011 school year.
May:
A 26-year-old Cloquet woman faced a second-degree attempted murder charge after Cloquet Police found her standing over a bloody, seriously injured man and holding a knife. Officers responding to the scene reported they saw the woman standing over the male victim with her arm raised, holding what the officer believed to be a razor knife. When police ordered her to drop the knife, she refused, stating, "I'm Jesus Christ, I'm going to kill him and send him for eternity to the devil." The Cloquet woman, Amber Rae Stonemark, 26, was described by her attorney as "extremely delusional" at her arraignment in Carlton County Court. Charges against Stonemark were later dismissed following her civil commitment to a mental health facility.
The cast, crew and supporters of "Wiley and the Hairy Man" were voted best in a 10-show, six-state Region 5 competition. In addition, Kirk Davis as the Hairy Man won a Best Supporting Actor award, and the troupe also won a Best Ensemble award. They then traveled to national competition in Rochester, New York, in June, where the local troupe brought home awards for best lighting design and best backstage organization.
Phase II of the expansion of Community Memorial Hospital got under way. Workers removed the blacktop from the parking lot behind the current building to make room for the new, three-story addition between the hospital and the St. Louis River. The $27.5 million Phase II project, which will expand patient care areas, will add nearly 80,000 square feet to the hospital, increasing the current campus size of 151,000 square feet by more than 50 percent.
The soldiers of the Cloquet-based CRAZY Troop of the 1st Squadron, 94th Cavalry were honored in a formal send-off ceremony for the unit at the Cloquet Area Recreational Center. After one more day of training , the soldiers departed for their mobilization site at Fort McCoy, Wis., for approximately two months, before moving on to Kuwait for the balance of their year's deployment.
June:
The Carlton Feed Mill -- one of the tallest structures in Carlton -- was razed following owner/operator Loren Johnson's retirement and sale of the building to Troy Gregg of Jact's Express. According to Johnson, the taller portion of the Carlton Feed Mill had been around for close to 140 years. The structure was built in the 1870s.
Cloquet Police responded to a report of a masked man carrying a gun lurking near a home on Hantz Road. According to Deputy Chief Terry Hill, the homeowner went outside to turn off a sprinkler after 11 p.m. and saw a man kneeling outside his daughter's bedroom window. Richard Allen Paul, 57, of Cloquet, the director of Behavior Services for Essentia Health in Duluth, was charged in Carlton County District Court with felony "interference with the privacy of a minor." He later pleaded guilty to the charge and is due to be sentenced in February 2012.
Joshua David Martineau pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder, and his defense attorney informed the court he will challenge the admissibility at trial of statements his client gave authorities as well as evidence gathered in the case.
Nine men from Minnesota and Wisconsin were arrested for soliciting prostitution in a sting operation carried out in Cloquet. The investigation had been under way for about a year and was initiated when police learned that individuals had been seeking prostitution for hire via the Internet. The arrested men hailed from Cloquet, Duluth, Minneapolis and Superior, Wis., and range in age from 24 to 62 years old.
July:
The original home of the Hong Kong Restaurant in Cloquet's west end was devastated in a late-night blaze that gutted the building's interior. It had reportedly been used more recently as a temple for worship, and according to Cloquet Police, the last person in the building the day of the fire reported being there between 10-10:30 p.m. and indicated he or she had lit incense and oil lamps that were left burning.
Two different events -- a powerful lightning storm and an alleged act of vandalism to a telecommunications fiber line -- left much of Carlton County without phone or Internet service for most of one day. While lightning strikes took out power in some areas of Cloquet and Esko and damaged an AT&T cell phone tower, the bulk of the day's communication problems were caused by someone or something cutting a Qwest fiber optic line along the Interstate 35 corridor.
Jay Cooke State Park reopened for camping after a prolonged shutdown due to the budget standoff in the Minnesota State Legislature.
Six-year-old Wyatt Hanna drowned at The Beach, Cloquet's sand-bottom swimming pond. Hanna, who was there with a group of about 30 other children from a Duluth childcare facility, still had a slight pulse when he was pulled from the water, but later died at Cloquet's Community Memorial Hospital. He was not wearing a life jacket at the time. It was the first drowning death in the history of the facility.
Inter-Faith Care Center's top administrator, Larry Penk, retire after nearly 28 years with the Carlton health care facility.
A 55-year-old man walking on Highway 33 in Cloquet was fatally injured when he was struck by a semi.
Minnesota State Patrol Captain Steve Strombeck said officers believe the semi struck Eugene Sam, 55, of Duluth, in the left lane of Northbound Highway 33, about a quarter mile from the entrance to Wal-Mart on Gillette Road.
Several recent reported sightings of a tall, hairy, long-limbed creature in Carlton County piqued the interest of the cable television show, "Finding Bigfoot." The show's cast and crew traveled to Carlton County and held a town-hall style meeting in Wright with a standing-room-only crowd in attendance.
August:
A new 40,000-square-foot Community Services Building opened its doors in downtown Cloquet to house the offices of Carlton County Health and Human Services, Carlton County Public Health, the motor vehicle registrar, veteran's services, and the Minnesota Workforce Center.
September:
Samuel James Sanchez Eno, 24, of Duluth drowned in Jay Cooke State Park after reportedly swimming below the bridge over the St. Louis River along the Munger Trail and being swept away by the current. Law enforcement officers and the Carlton County Dive team recovered Eno's body in 8-10 feet of water.
The United States Postal Service announced that some 3,700 smaller post offices would be closed in the near future. Locally, the Wright, Kerrick and Brookston post offices were listed among those up for consideration.
Local childcare providers Heather Falk and Judy Sanda spent much of their free time fighting efforts in Minnesota to create a union for licensed home childcare providers, circulating a petition in opposition of the move and appearing numerous times to testify at the State Capitol.
October:
Rick Pomroy, plant manager for Jarden Home Brands' Cloquet mill, confirmed that a portion of the company's toothpick manufacturing business had returned to the local plant after being outsourced to China since 2006.
November:
Friends of Animals was alerted by area law enforcement of an overpopulation of dogs at a home in the area. Upon further investigation, 34 Yorkies, Miniature Pinschers and Dachshunds were found to be living in crowded, squalid conditions. Staff and volunteers transported the dogs back to the shelter, where one later died and the rest were put up for adoption.
Four county school districts had operating referendums on the ballot in the Nov. 8 election. Moose Lake was successful in its requested $450 per pupil levy, with 662 voting in favor and 426 against. Barnum didn't fare so well in its request for a $400 per pupil levy, with the majority voting no. Esko voters also denied the district its levy request, with 727 voting against the $340 per pupil levy and 515 voting to approve. Cloquet voters approved one question and denied the second, voting 1,419 to 730 to extend the current operating referendum of $97.61 per student, but narrowly defeating a request to extend that operating referendum by an additional $275 per student
Sappi Fine Paper announced that it will stop making pulp at its Cloquet mill and start making chemical cellulose that's made into a fabric for clothing, wet wipes and other consumer products. Sappi Limited's board approved the $170 million investment in the Cloquet mill and hopes to begin producing chemical cellulose by 2013.
Members of the Cloquet Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend the City Council change city code to prohibit any new landfills or expand any existing landfills within city limits. The recommendation came as a moratorium on new landfill permits and/or landfill expansion was set to expire Nov. 23. The Council unanimously adopted the recommendation.
Two 2007 graduates of Carlton High School were killed in an automobile accident on their way to hunt deer near Gooseberry Falls State Park. Nik Nelson, of Carlton, and friend Aaron Nelson, of Wrenshall, were killed in an early-morning crash on Highway 61 in Lake County after losing lost control of their vehicle on an icy Gooseberry River bridge and being struck by a northbound truck.
Cloquet's sixth annual Community Thanksgiving Buffet came together once again, thanks to the efforts of many different organizations across the Northland, including volunteers at The College of St. Scholastica who cooked a total of 1,800 pounds of turkey. Some 700 people ate their Thanksgiving dinner at Cloquet's Zion Lutheran Church as well.
December:
The Cloquet School District received welcome financial news as a result of the district's annual financial audit, which may make looming spring budget cuts slightly easier. The accounting firm of Eikill and Schilling performed the district's required annual audit and discovered a positive variance from the 2009-10 budget of $1,049,289 -- meaning the district's fund balance increased by $225,636 over the last fiscal year to a total of $8,318,544.
A Minnesota Judicial Court judge put a stop to efforts to unionize in-home daycare workers, issuing a temporary restraining order to at least temporarily put the brakes on a scheduled unionization vote.
A trial date was set for the man accused of murdering Kim Schmitz and Thomas Holm at their Cromwell-area home earlier in the year. Barring a pretrial settlement, Joshua David Martineau, 29, will face trial April 2, 2012, in Carlton County District Court. Carlton County Attorney Thom Pertler told Judge Robert Macaulay on Friday that he wants to try Martineau before his co-defendant, Rachel Charlotte Defoe.
Fiber-optic cables were laid throughout the county as part of the Minnesota Northeast Service Cooperative's Middle Mile Fiber Project. The broadband infrastructure project is aimed at making world-class Internet speed available to the public sector as well as to private sector technology service providers in unserved and underserved rural areas of northeast Minnesota.
Rachel Defoe's attorney Joanna Wiegert announced that she and co-defendant Joshua Martineau's attorney have agreed to join cases in a pre-trail motion to request a different venue for the trials of the two who are accused of the double homicide of the Cromwell couple.
About a dozen of the soldiers serving with the Cloquet-based CRAZY Troop of the Army National Guard in Kuwait were lucky enough to come home for Christmas, the lucky winners of a random lottery.
The Cloquet City County voted to hold a referendum vote on a half-cent sales tax proposal in November 2012, and also to begin work on a master plan to develop its parks, which could be funded in part by the sales tax. Such a sales tax could bring in $600,000 or more a year over a 30-year period, up to a maximum of $16.5 million.
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(c)2012 The Pine Journal (Cloquet, Minn.)
Visit The Pine Journal (Cloquet, Minn.) at www.pinejournal.com
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